


Lunch Date

by sachertortes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-12 01:52:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11727030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sachertortes/pseuds/sachertortes
Summary: Bucky and Darcy con their way out of paying for lunch.





	Lunch Date

The first time was an honest mistake.

They were all going to have lunch together off-site. But Jane and Bruce got held up in the labs, and Steve had a last-minute meeting with Hill.

That left Darcy with Bucky Barnes - the man she’d secretly named “Tall, Quiet, and Grouchy”. Only after the (nearly interminable, thanks Tony, did the upstate facility need to be  _up-_ upstate _?_ ) drive did she discover that he wasn’t grouchy at all. Okay, he was a little grouchy. But mostly, he was funny and sweet. And polite. He held doors open for her. When she got up to use the restroom in the diner, he rose from his seat too.

She was enjoying his company after she finished her lunch special and Bucky had finished  _three_ lunch specials, when she realized that she didn’t have her wallet. And Bucky wasn’t carrying cash. A problem at the small cash-only diner.

Which led them to their current predicament.

“Just do it,” Darcy insisted, leaning across the table to give him her best intimidating glare.

“No.”

“Come  _on._ ”

“ _No._ You really think it would work?”

“Yes.”

Bucky raised one skeptical eyebrow at her from across their booth.

“Okay, I’m like, 62% sure,” she amended.

“62%, huh? Why don’t you just call Jane to bring you your wallet?”

“Because the facility is like, a 40-minute drive from this podunk town and – “

“Can I get you kids anything else?” interrupted Paula, their waitress.

“Just the check, please,” answered Darcy. Paula nodded and left.

And even though Darcy was fairly certain that Bucky had at least two firearms and one mean-looking knife on his person at all times, she proceeded to pull out  _her_ big guns.

“Scared, huh?”

At his look, she knew she had him.

“Fine,” Bucky gritted out. He squared his jaw and took a deep breath. “Darcy  _Prunella_  – “

“What the hell, Bucky, my middle name is Elizabeth!” Darcy hissed at him. He only gave her a wink and an evil smirk as he stood from the table and placed his hand dramatically over his heart.

“Darcy Prunella Lewis, for as long as I’ve known you I’ve loved you,” he declared in a loud, smooth voice.

Silverware stopped clinking. The low rumble of conversation halted. Bucky cleared his throat in the silence.

“I know I ain’t got much money…and I ain’t even got a ring yet, but I would be honored if you’d let me try every day of my life to make you the happiest woman on the planet. Darcy Prunella, will you marry me?”

His eyes alighted on their leftover food and he picked up a cold onion ring from the plastic basket. Bucky raised his eyebrows at her expectantly, lips twitching like he was about to burst out laughing any minute. Darcy obligingly held out her left hand and Bucky placed the fried onion on her ring finger where it hung loosely.

“Yes!!” Darcy squealed to the cheers and claps of the other diners. She shot up from her seat to be enveloped in Bucky’s hug. He practically lifted her up onto her toes.

“On the house, you two!” Paula exclaimed with a smile as she approached them. She whisked away their plates and check. “Congratulations!”

“Told ya it would work,” Darcy whispered triumphantly into his ear.

 

The second time was also an honest mistake. Or so Darcy insisted. All Bucky knew was he definitely had his wallet when they left and now he didn’t, and apparently Darcy didn’t either.

“You ain’t gonna give me a shitty middle name are you?”

“You mean after you saddled me with  _Prunella?_ No, I’m nice. It’s the name of one of my favorite characters from classic literature.”

Bucky leveled a warning glare at her that in his spotty memory had once literally made a HYDRA goon wet his pants. Darcy only gave him an innocent, sweet smile in response but he should’ve known. He should’ve known by the crinkle in her nose that she got whenever she was about to do something she thought was hilarious and by the mirth shining bright in her eyes.

“James  _Bunnicula_  Barnes – ”

“What the fuck.”

She flashed him a gleeful grin as she continued, “I’ve loved you since I saw your Tinder profile. Marry me?”

He inwardly sighed then answered dutifully, “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

 

 

From there, it became a game. Over lunches they gave each other ridiculous names and tried to be convincing enough to warrant a free meal. They always sent an envelope full of cash for the bill and a very hefty tip the next day.

 

Bucky asked Darcy Hortense Lewis to “be his gal forever and ever” over chicken parmesan subs and mozzarella sticks.

 

Darcy asked James Benvolio Barnes to marry her over garlic naan and lamb biriyani.

 

In a little place serving buttermilk biscuits and fried chicken, Bucky begged Darcy Zenobia to make an honest man out of him.

 

Darcy demanded James Buford Barnes to marry her already to “give their dear baby a father” and Bucky nearly choked on his peach smoothie before agreeing.

 

 

But it was over a homecooked lunch of BLTs that Bucky proposed to her next. He had been acting strange all afternoon, furtively patting his jeans pocket as if to make sure that whatever he hid there was still in place. Darcy definitely noticed the nervous, secretive gesture.

Finally, after they finished eating, he took out something that crinkled in his palm then gave her a hopeful smile.

“Darcy Elizabeth Lewis – ” he unwrapped the Ring Pop then held it out to her. “…Will you go on a date with me?”

“Wait. For real?”

“For real.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes. “Lemme see that ring.”

He handed it over and after inspecting it like one would a shiny, clear diamond, Darcy placed the ring on her right index finger and brought her hand up to pop the confection into her mouth.

She smiled, her lips cherry red from the candy. “I’ll totally go on a date with you, James Buchanan Barnes.”

“Only had to ask ya to marry me three times before you’d date me.”

“Y’know, those aren’t great odds.”

Bucky shrugged and grinned. “It works all the time, 62% of the time, dollface.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- This was originally written for the FYDL Drabble-a-Thon Extravaganza on tumblr, for the prompt "62%". 
> 
> \- ---> [Bunnicula](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/515MBTEMKYL.jpg), lol.
> 
> \- Come chat with me on [tumblr](https://sachertortes.tumblr.com/) :)


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